I used to watch Deal regularly, but only see it if I'm in the gym and it's on, and it's so lost what it once had - for example, when it gets to just before the last ad break, you can tell from the time of broadcast whether they're going to deal or not because of the amount of time & boxes left, eg. if it's almost 4.45pm and there's 8 boxes left, they'll deal because, in 5 mins, they'll whizz through the last lot in the short time left.

However, I only just realised that the Sunday shows have disappeared. I know the ratings are dropping, but is this the beginning of the end? Channel 4 needs a big shot in the arm of programmes that give it good ratings.

Anyone?

I'm surprised no one commented on this.

The no weekend show thing is pretty new. As for it being the beginning of the end, I'm not entirely convinced, although everyone else seems to feel the show is on its last year.

I just think it's unlikely to get recommissioned beyond its current contract ending in December 2014, with dwindling ratings (It did drop to around 500k when up against Tipping Point fairly recently; the average figure seems to be about 700-800k), and costing £50k to produce a single show (plus ave. £15k winnings on top of that), it just doesn't seem viable; almost any alternative is likely to be a better option for Channel 4.

But then again, we have to question what's on the horizon - and there doesn't seem to be much offering; C4 have resorted to re-hashing a lot of old shows, and the decent gameshow that did come along (5 minutes to a fortune) was placed in an horrendous time-slot against established favourites Pointless and The Chase!! All brought about because they were too bloody-minded, or scared to give DOND a summer break that would surely have been the best decision all round!

Schedulers have made some bizarre decisions I feel, so it's not totally "out of the box" (thanks) that they'll renew DOND, but the general consensus on here, and bearing in mind we are the remaining fragments of the superfans, is that that shouldn't happen...

You know, back in January, I was messaged by someone on here (I won't say who, but they don't post anymore), and they said they thought the show would go on for another three years, provided C4 don't start flogging a dead horse.

I don't think there was a real point in having the Sunday show anymore, I understand why they started off with a weekend show and this successfully evolved into the primetime Saturday night shows but they didn't seem to last very long for some reason. They just sort of crawled backwards into the afternoon, moved to Sunday and then never went past 5pm again, sometimes on at ridiculous times like 12.15 . Always felt it was a bit unfair that people who played on these games got half the audience a weekday player would get.

I'm not sure about its future. I don't think it should continue as it is, but I've been saying that for about 3 years now. The team are excellent and are wasted on a show that few people are watching. I have said before that if they were desperate to keep DOND, I would axe the daytime show and try it as a Live bigger-budget show (Fri/Sat night like MPD, perhaps). I really loved the Live shows, they should have tried some more; there was a real energy and entertainment to them. Just think, how much more you would look forward to DOND if it was only on twice a week for 4 weeks then took a few months off.

The ratings are low but you can seemingly never be sure with C4. People have been saying the same about Countdown and how it is about to be axed for well over a decade, and that's still on and got at least another year in it.

I have a sinking feeling they might string DOND out further you know. I guess if the advertisers are prepared to go for it then it will carry on regardless of the disappointing figures. And the way they buried the perfectly decent Five Minutes to a Fortune in favour of 400k-rating Deal, suggests that C4 still depend on it to some degree.

How on earth does it cost £50k to produce an hour long show (plus the prize money)?

Looking at the replacement options, Location repeats tend to be one, and then Big Fat Gypsy nonsense next week.



A bit like Million Pound Drop? That's better for being on occasionally, but I'll still only ever watch a bit of that if I'm in when it's on. As for an occasional Deal, if it's done with regular contestants then whoever makes up the 22 in the wings will have to be content in the knowledge that they might NOT get picked. And when Deal does eventually end, there'll be 21 very disappointed wingers (or whatever they're referred to)

Yeah, I was thinking of primetime weekends, at times when competition is minimal. Although I guess you could strip it at a set time for a week or two and that be that - like MPD did for the first couple of series, but I think 1-2 a week would have much more chance of impact.

I don't think the recurring contestants are integral to the show. It was a charm of the daily show to begin with, but as demonstrated by the Live shows, and those Christmas specials from years ago, it wasn't harmful to just have a group of relatives/friends of the player instead. In fact I would argue that it might even be an improvement, given how some players can outstay their welcome, and it'd also mean less tomfoolery and unfairness from The Banker.

I think the biggest issue with this idea would probably be having to [at least] double the jackpot prize to justify a move to prime time, on top of the cost of the Live programming - but who knows, with such a smaller commission, it might be viable. It wouldn't set ratings alight but if it's fun and energetic I can see it doing okay for C4. They'd probably be happy with a million viewers these days (which is what MPD gets, thereabouts). And it's an idea if they don't want to ditch DOND completely.

With regards the show's end, I would guess that they'll just pad out the wings with past players, as the show rides into the sunset. It would not make sense to keep introducing new players who know they're not going to play.

Considering that very few (if any) players No Deal at 5 box with the £250k in play, I'm pretty sure Channel 4 could still afford £500k prime-time episodes, as most players who keep it to the serious stages of the game will probably end up dealing £5k to £10k more than they would if it was replaced with the £250,000.

Another question that sprang to mind - has the cancellation of Sundays been taken into account with the weekday shows? I only see it occasionally now, but he doesn't start introducing Monday's show as Sunday, and so on?

Dropping the Sunday editions was definitely planned during filming (so Noel has been saying the correct days of the week in the shows), but nothing has really been said about the change during the show. The last Sunday show was in mid-August just before Paddy's game, and Noel didn't mention anything about it being the last Sunday show. Bit of a random time to do it, although ratings for most channels are lower around August, so perhaps one of the better times for it..